Special Phone Call
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: Danny gets a very special phone call from Lindsay.


Stella could feel her molars grinding together, Danny had been drumming his fingers and checking his watch every two minutes for the last half hour and she was sick of it.

"Danny, if you don't stop, I'm gonna break your arm."

Danny smiled his sheepish little boy smile, "Sorry Stella." Stella went back to checking their victim's credit card and bank statements but ten minutes later, she heard Danny's shoes tapping on the linoleum.

"Danny!" The tapping instantly stopped, only to resume a few minutes later. Finally, Stella slammed her hands down on the table, "Danny, I swear to God!"

Danny looked sheepish, "I'm sorry Stella." He went back to what he was working on but Stella could see him checking his watch every few minutes. Finally, irritation and curiosity got the better of her, "What is going on Danny? I've never seen you act like this before."

Danny smiled a little nervously, "I'm, uhm, expecting an important call and I'm a little nervous about it."

Stella was intrigued, "What's going on? Is everything going all right between you and Lindsay?" Danny and Lindsay had been together officially for about five months, ever since Danny had flown out to Montana to see her and help her through her testimony against the man who'd murdered her friends. Everyone was very supportive, there were a few naysayers but not many and the really persistent ones had learned very quickly to keep their comments to themselves when Mac or Stella were around.

Danny nodded, "Things between Linds and me are going great. She met my folks last weekend and she and my mother hit it right off." He smiled at the memory, "Mom asked me when I was poppin' the question that night over dinner. Told me that if I let Lindsay get away, she was disowning me."

Stella smiled, few people in the lab knew that Danny was a mama's boy, so having his mother's approval was a major point for Lindsay, she didn't think Danny had dated anyone else long enough to get to the 'Meet the Parents' point. She was happy for them, a little envious, but very happy. "So what's the phone call about?"

Before Danny could answer, Adam walked in with results from Trace implicating their suspect and Danny's mystery phone call was quickly put on the backburner.

A few hours later, Stella and Danny were giving their final reports to Mac when Danny's cell phone started playing 'Whiskey Girl' which meant that Lindsay was calling. "Yeah. Yeah. So what'd she say?"

Stella and Mac shared a look of confusion; what on earth was Danny talking about? They got their answer soon enough when a brilliant smile spread across Danny's face.

"Really?! You're sure?" His smile got brighter, if that was possible. "No, that's great! Yeah!" He checked his watch, "Well, Stella and I just finished our case, so I'll see if Mac will let me leave a little early. Yeah. I'll grab dinner on my way home, Virgil's okay? Yeah, I'll order before I leave. Yeah. _Ti amo anch'io_. Bye." He hung up and could see Stella and Mac looking at him with extremely interested expressions on their faces but he was too caught up in the excitement of Lindsay's news to really worry about it. He quickly dialed another number and waited for the person to pick up.

"Ma? It's Danny. No, everything's fine, honest. I've, um, got some good news. No, Lindsay and I aren't getting married. Not yet anyways. Well, I'm not sure how to tell ya this Ma, but uhm, _sto per diventare papa_." He smiled at his mother's response, "Great. Thanks Ma. Yeah, I'll send Lindsay your love. I love you too Ma. Bye."

He turned back around to see Stella almost beaming at him while Mac was just staring at him in blank confusion. "What?"

Stella nearly bounced over to Danny, "_Congratulations Danny_." She hugged him and kissed his cheek before pointing toward the door. "Go home. I'll finish up whatever's left. Tell Lindsay I said congratulations and that I'll be dragging her out to go shopping this weekend."

Danny laughed, "I'll tell her. Thanks Stel." He nearly ran out of the office, leaving a very confused Mac glaring at Stella.

"What is going on? And what were you two talking about?"

Stella grinned, "'Sto per diventare papa', 'I'm going to be a father.'"

Mac's blue eyes widened as everything fell into place, Lindsay's recent illness, Danny's nervousness all day and Danny's speaking in Italian to his mother. "Wow." For once, that was all he could think to say.

Stella laughed, "Yeah. Wow. Our Danny's gonna be a daddy."

Mac smiled a little, "He'll make a good dad, and Lindsay will make an excellent mom."

Across town, Danny was opening the door to the apartment he and Lindsay shared. In one hand was the take out from Virgil's in the other was a huge bouquet of roses. He smiled as he looked around, they were going to need to get a bigger place. His, _their_, apartment was spacious but it only had one bedroom, not enough for a baby to grow up in and the pool table wasn't really all that comfortable to sleep on. He thought about finding a place closer to the office with two bedrooms and close to a park where they could take their baby could play.

He stopped in the middle of the apartment, a year ago, the thought of losing the rent controlled apartment he'd been living in pretty much since he'd moved out on his own would've meant the end of the relationship but the knowledge that Lindsay, the woman he loved more than anything in this world, was having his baby was more than enough encouragement to give up his precious apartment.

A sudden noise brought his attention to the present and his face lit up when he saw Lindsay coming out of the bathroom in an baby t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The outfit accentuated the slight swell of her stomach and it made Danny smile to know that their baby was growing in there.

Lindsay smiled at him, "Hey. I see you were able to get off work early."

Danny smiled, "Yeah, we'd just wrapped up our paperwork so Stella told me to get lost. Plus, she says to tell you that the two of you are going shopping this weekend."

Lindsay looked at him, "Did you tell them?"

Danny shrugged, "Not directly. I called Ma to tell her and I forgot that Stella speaks Italian and she understood it, so probably Mac knows since he was in the room with us, but I haven't told anyone else. Why?"

Lindsay smiled, "Well, I was wanting for us to tell them together but Stella would've figured it out anyway." She stepped closer to Danny and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Can you believe we're going to be parents?"

Danny laughed, "It's still sinking in. Ma was so excited when I told her." Sensing that Lindsay had been very nervous about his reaction, he leaned down and kissed her hard, trying to show all his love in the gesture. As they kissed, he slid a hand to Lindsay's belly. Even though the baby was too small for him to feel, the fact that there was a tiny life growing inside his girlfriend made him smile and made him think of a small velvet box hidden in his sock drawer.

He'd once told Mac to not joke about him falling in love but now, he had to admit that his boss had been right; love had happened to him when he wasn't looking for it and he couldn't be happier.

The End

Translations:

Ti amo anch'io: I love you too

Sto per diventare papa : I'm going to be a father.


End file.
